Summer Language Programs Abroad
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March 2012
My daughter has been taking Mandarin at Berkeley High but would like to
take it to the next level with a summer program, internship, or volunteer
activity in China that demands speaking the language. She has just
finished level 5/6 with an A so is conversational but not fluent. Can
anyone suggest an interesting option??
Berkeley mom
You may want to look into LPI Abroad's program in China. My son went to Costa
Rica for a month last summer with them. The program, staff and families were
amazing. My son loved it and learned a huge amount. I would think their China
program is just as wonderful.
Linda
Nov 2010
My son will be 16 on June 23, 2011. He would like to take a
Spanish immersion program. He has had 2 years of high school
Spanish. He was taking Spanish 3 this year but struggled so much
that he dropped it. Is there a program that you recommend? He was
thinking of Costa Rica, but is open to most any location. Are
there any that will give him college credit? He could attend 3-5
weeks. Of course he would like some fun adventure excursions as
well! Thanks.
linda
I recommend Kukulcan, a wonderful Spanish school in Cuernavaca,
Mexico. I spent a week there over New Year's 2 years ago, and also
a month there last summer with my 16 year old daughter. Most of the
students there are getting college credit. The two times I was
there, we met many students from Texas, California, and Iowa, plus a
whole group from France. During the summer I was happy to also have
classmates who were closer to my age, such as a group of
nutritionists doing a special culture/language course, and a group
of ESL teachers. In the winter there was a group of pre-pharmacy
students who came together from the same university. But there are
also lots of ''Independent'' students like us, who don't come in a
group but quickly make friends with their classmates. The students
were friendly and the staff are all incredibly helpful.
By the way, my daughter and I also decided to volunteer at an
orphanage where one of the school's staff members regularly
volunteers. That was a deeply enriching addition to our school
experience. www.kukulcan.com.mx
Kathryn
Feb 2009
My 9 year old daughter has been learning French for about 6
months and has made remarkable progress. I know the window to
learn a language is rapidly coming to a close. Therefore I am
thinking of spending a month in central Paris. I have found
numerous schools for adults I have not found any for kids.The
only kids summer school program i found in paris is somewhere in
the suburbs and I really dont want to commute :) I would like my
kid to learn french in a natural, fun way and enjoy her month
in Paris. Any advice is appreciated. Thank you.
chris
Are you planning to go in the summer? France offers these reasonably-priced
summer day camps in virtually every community. The staff are
government-certified
so there is a pretty uniform standard of care. Since the camps are for French
children, they are conducted in French. The camps are fun and offer a wealth
of
activities, which vary according to where you are. When we took our (then 8
year
old) daughter to France for a few weeks, we researched before we left and
located
the camp nearest where we were staying. The camp activities were fun (we were
on
Lac Leman and the kids went to the ''beach'' most days), our daughter needed
to
function in French, and the other kids were amazed that she could speak
English,
which helped overcome the difficulty of being the new kid. We took her to camp
in
the morning, then did some adult-themed and -paced sightseeing before picking
her up in the late afternoons. You can usually get info about these camps at
the
Hotel de Ville (City Hall) of the area in which you are staying.
English-speaking Mama to bilingual Sophie
We went to Paris last summer and rented an apartment in Arond.
4, which was a great neighborhoody experience. However, we
were just doing the tourist thing and having my son practice
his French.
Have you heard of Concordia Language Villages? It's very
highly regarded language immersion summer camp program in
Minnesota. They have several French ''Villages'', and my son
attended for 2 weeks last summer (at age 9) and LOVED it.
There is also ''family week'', if you're not comfortable sending
her alone. We booked my son on a direct flight from SFO last
year, and there were 2 other kids on his flight flying solo to
the camp. If you want to know more, feel free to e-mail me:
c_shepler@hotmail.com. We're still working on our summer
schedule and aren't sure if he'll be going back this year,
though he'd very much like to.
I have a friend from Berkeley who has her children in a
Montessori near Jardin des Plantes this year.
I do not know of a specific program for 9 yr olds in Paris for a
month, but you could check out on line, or call these folks and
see if they know of one, even if it is runby someone else:
- Alliance Francaise (these are centers all over the world that
teach French and are gathering places for those interested in
French culture. There is one in Berkeley (Alliance Francaise de
Berkeley), but they probably do not know of a specific program
in Paris.(http://www.alliancefr.org/)
- The American Consulate in Paris
- The American Church community in Paris - a cultural node for
Americn ex pats (http://www.acparis.org/)
- Fodors talk board online at Fodors.com
- Rick Steeves talk board online.
- City of Paris official website
(http://www.paris.fr/portail/english/
- day camp classes given by the museums.
Hope you have a wonderful time.
Wish I were going, too!
Bonjour! I saw your ad and looked a little on the web to see if I
could find anything to help you...I used to live in Paris! I did
find a camp that has a segment of it for international students
(les enfant Htrangers = foreign children).It is called Energy
Academy and it seems like they offer a lot-- varied sports etc.
In my time in Paris, I found that visiting the museums and
reading the signs and bulletins all around offered an enormous
amount of improvement for my vocabulary. I carried a little
dictionary with me for the first six months and found that
exceedingly helpful and let me learn many more words that if I
just tried to figure out the ones that were absolutely needed. I
also studied in schools there and worked with French people--yet
just being there might be enough for your child, as it is a
busier pace than California- in my humble opinion.
http://www.energyacademy.fr/summercamp-paris-enfant.html
You might try the Mairie de Paris/ mayor of Paris website-
it is Paris.fr
They have lots of information.
Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help or if I
can answer any of your questions.
Joanna
I came across this and it sounds just like what you are looking for:
From: 6 July 2009 To: 7 August 2009
At: International School of Paris, 6 rue Beethoven, 75016, Paris - Metro:
Passy
International School of Paris - Holiday Language Program
International School of Paris
Holiday Language Program
Your children aged 3 to 18 will receive the best education ever in
French or English when they attend the various and stimulating
programs HLP proposes this year. They will be received by a team of
experienced and dedicated teachers and coaches, in the dream
facilities that ISP offers to its students, right at the heart of
Paris.
You can choose a classic session of linguistic immersion composed of
language classes in the morning supported by a diversity of cultural,
artistic and sportive activities in the afternoon. Or you can
challenge yourself and choose our very new project based
programs. Teenagers can choose to work on a lstar academyn show,
youngsters can work on a theatre play, even adults this year have the
option to join us in a cooking program in a foreign language! All
language classes will be related to the project. There is no better
way to learn a language than to use it purposively!
Whatever your favourite options are, they are available over 1, 2, 3,
4 or 5 weeks, from July the 06th to August the 07th 2009.
Early birds get a 10% discount if they enrol before March the 30th
2009.
For further details, please contact Carole Piccin, HLP Director at
HLP@isparis.edu 06 70 81 56 00 ISP website: http://www.isparis.edu/
Also, I am putting together a group of people to take a French for
Travelers class this spring, beginning level, for the whole family.
Feb 2009
Our ninth grade twin boys have started Mandarin this year and we would
like to
send them to camp in China this summer for 2-3 weeks. We know of Sino
Language Gateway (from a BPN post), Mandarin House and Hebei Overseas
Chinese School. Has anyone had personal experience with any of these?
Does
anyone recommend another program or have general advice about how to
pick a
program (e.g. more structured time vs. less structured time,
international vs.
American student body, etc.)?
Karen
Our Chinese Daughters Foundation http://www.ocdf.org/academicconnections/
was started for (and by) China
adoptive families. We went on one of their tours. OCDF is terrific.
Ask about their language programs. You can write to their director:
Jane Liedtke Jane@ocdf.org,
Tell her Peggy from Berkeley sent you.
Feb 2006
I have a 15 yo son who is interested in a summer program abroad
( preferably Spain or Costa Rica). He has 3 yrs of high school
spanish. I was wondering if anyone has any recomendations. He
has never spent an extended time away from home so this would
be his first experience. I am particularly interested in what
homestays were like and also what the adult supervision was like.
I know many of these programs are quite expensive - does anyone
know if financial aid is available.
Thanks
My daughter went to Spain with ECI-Edu-Culture International and she had a
terrific time...see their website at www.educulture.org. It was 4 weeks in
Spain with 3 weeks of Spanish language study in Granada (mornings) with
activities and additional travel/stay options.
Linda
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